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*Originally posted by armughal: *
i'll translate ibn kathir's tafsir for u....
and will try to make it short as well....
it is mentioned in this verse that there r verses in the Quran which r easily understood by everyone and there r also the verse which r not easily comprehended by a normal mind....
now those who try to understand the 'complicated' verses by matching them with the 'simple' verses, they r on the right path....
and those who wish to seek a solution for a particular matter from the 'complicated' verses and knowingly ignore the 'simpler' verses which hold the answer to the matter, then those r the ones who will fall on their faces....
"umm ul kitaab" r the verses which r the clear matter of the Quran....
there is no doubt in their meaning and they must be followed without any alterations....
follow the commands in them, and use them even for deriving the meaning of the 'complicated' verses....
'muhkamaat' and 'mushtabihaat' have different meanings by the early scholars....
ibn abbas (ra) says that muhkamaat r the verses which explain about haraam and halal....
saeed bin jubair (ra) says these r the verses which were revealed in all Books sent down by Allah....
maqatil (rha) says these r the verses in which all religions have faith....
mushtabihaat r the verses which have been 'mansookh'....
and the verses in which examples r given....
and the ones in which Allah as sworn (e.g walsham, walasar)....
and these r the verses in which one must have faith but do not require any actions to exhibit faith in them....
ibn abbas (ra) believes the same....
maqatil (rha) says these r the 'muatiaat' (verses like alif-lam-meem, and ha-meem, ya-seen etc)....
mujahid (rha) says these r the verses which r proof of other verses and r used to furhter stregthen the orders in those verses....
also he says these r the verses which carry information about opposites (e.g. heaven and hell, good and bad, etc)....
muhammad bin ishaaq (rha) gives a long definition of such verses which can be summarized as verses which apparently give some other meaning but there r other verses which can be used to show what the actual meaning is....
such verses r used by 'bid'atis" (innovators) to spread lies while they ignore other verses which clarify points about such verses....
abdulla bin abbas (ra) says that the meaning of the verses r of four types....
1) which can be understood by all
2) those which r understood by arabs due to the advantage of their language
3) those which r understood only by scholars
4) those which only Allah knows
imam ahmed has reported in his 'masnad' a hadith that the Prophet(saw) saw some people fighting over the meaning of the Quran, so he said to them "listen, people before u also were destroyed becaues they said that the verses of Allah contradict each other wherase eac verse of the Book of Allah confirms each other, so dont try to find contradiction in them and dont say they r opposites of each other.... say what u know of them and leave what u dont know to the scholars who know"....
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Allah app ko Kush/happy rakhee.
Imam Ibn kathir is one of the greatest scholars of Islam.
Read his book "Stories of the Prophets' in english.
Do not read in URDU (Qasyas Alanbia), Paki bhi's ne usko bhe innovate kardia.
Read Story of Hazrat Yusuf(A.S) its a literary master piece.